Colton Buckley serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Association of Resource Conservation and Development Councils (NARCDC), a national nonprofit organization comprising over 180 RC&D Councils across nearly 40 states, committed to advancing agricultural and conservation initiatives and fostering rural economic growth and community development. He previously served on the NARCDC board of directors, as well as on the boards of the Texas and Oklahoma RC&D Associations. Recently, Colton was appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator to the National Environmental Youth Advisory Council (NEYAC) as the sole representative of rural and agricultural communities on the Federal Advisory Council. He has also represented the next generation of rural Americans through his appointment on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Young Texans Steering Committee, the Texas Commissioner of Agriculture’s Advisory Council, the Texas Workforce Commission’s Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas board of directors, and as Texas’ youngest appointee to the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents, appointed by Governor Rick Perry.
Colton holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Services and Development and a Master’s degree in Communication. His deep-rooted passion for rural America, shaped by his personal experience growing up on his grandparents’ Brangus cow-calf operation in Arnett, Texas (population 15), has driven his educational and advocacy efforts for the agricultural sector and the revitalization of rural communities.